Just Go With The Flow
by alb925
Summary: Hermione and Ron go to an amusement park on their first official date after the war. Entry for the Twin Exchange November Challenge


**A/N: This is my entry for the Twin Exchange November challenge. I've never done one before, but I decided to give it a try. If you like the story, then just go to the Twin Exchange profile and vote for it on November 20th. :)**

**I don't own Harry Potter.**

**Prompt: Amusement park**

**Pairing: Ron/Hermione**

**Quote: "What is that?"**

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><p>"So, tell me again, Hermione, what do Muggles call this place?" Ron asked as Hermione dragged him towards an odd sort of box with a window in the middle of it.<p>

"An amusement park, and not so loud, Ron," Hermione answered. "You should know by now that you can't go around yelling out words like 'muggle'."

"Sorry," Ron shrugged. He watched with interest as Hermione dealt with a wad of Muggle money and paid the woman behind the window, who then passed Hermione two little squares of paper.

"Thank you," Hermione said to the woman before grabbing Ron's hand once again and dragging him further into the amusement park.

It was their first date since the war ended. Actually, it was their first date ever seeing as they had only gotten together in the middle of the battle. Hermione had come up with the idea to take Ron to some place that Muggle people found entertaining.

"So, you came here a lot as a kid?" Ron asked as they walked, hand in hand past shops and stands selling clothes, hats, souvenirs and snacks.

Hermione shook her head. "Actually, no, I hardly ever went to amusement parks. I didn't particularly find them fun as a kid. See, it was always just me, mum and dad, and I think amusement parks tend to be more fun when you have a friend or someone else to go on rides with. My parents weren't too fond of amusement park rides. My mum has a fear of heights and my dad gets motion sickness, so we didn't get to go on too many rides. They also never bought me any of the snacks since most of them are very sugary and not good for my teeth."

"So why did you suggest we come here?" Ron asked.

Hermione sent him a small smile. "Well, I wanted to try again and get the full experience. I know you aren't afraid of heights, you don't get motion sickness, and you definitely don't have a problem with eating sweets and junk food. Plus, I thought you would like the experience as well. I could definitely see you coming here if you had been born a Muggle."

"Yeah?" Ron asked, raising an eyebrow and looking from left to right, taking in all the sights.

Hermione nodded and paused at a small stand to pick up a map of the park. "So, what do you think we should do first?"

Ron shrugged. "I don't know. You're more familiar with this place than I am."

"Let's start with something easy." Hermione scanned the map and bit her lip in concentration, something that Ron had always loved that she did. She nodded her head slightly as she seemed to make a decision before grabbing his hand again and dragging him further into the park.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"You'll see in a minute!" she answered, glancing over her shoulder at him.

Finally, they reached their destination and Ron found himself staring at an odd contraption. It was a very large wheel with little compartments dangling every few feet along it. The wheel was slowly moving around and around.

"What is that?" Ron asked, his mouth hanging open. He had never seen anything like it.

"It's a Ferris Wheel," Hermione said. "It was one of the few rides I got to go on when I was younger. It was the only one that didn't make my dad sick, so I went on with him since my mum is afraid of heights, like I said."

"Oh," Ron said, a little nervously.

Hermione seemed to sense his apprehension because she squeezed his hand tighter. "Don't worry, it's completely safe," she whispered in his ear.

Ron nodded as he looked up at the Ferris Wheel. It was awfully high, but it couldn't be all that bad. It actually looked kind of fun.

"You trust me, don't you?" Hermione asked.

"Of course I do," Ron said, nodding.

"Then come on," Hermione said, leading him towards the line. "Just go with the flow."

It was a little odd, really, that Hermione was leading Ron onto an amusement park ride. Granted, it was the slowest and most relaxing ride there and definitely something Hermione would like, but Ron was getting the feeling amusement parks weren't places that she would have wanted to hang out at, even if she had gone with someone other than her parents.

While this was all still very odd, Ron had to admit that Hermione had really changed over the years, especially after the war. It had become particularly noticeable when they had started the DA. Hermione had actually gotten a thrill out of breaking the rules and rebelling against Umbridge. She had progressively loosened up even more since then and Ron found himself really enjoying her daring, spontaneous side. He doubted she would have brought him here at all if she hadn't loosened up.

The line moved quickly and finally Ron and Hermione were sitting across from each other in a compartment on the Ferris Wheel.

"So, what do you think?" Hermione asked as they reached the top.

"You can see everything from up here!" Ron exclaimed. He leaned in closer and lowered his voice. "The things these Muggles think up."

Hermione let out a small giggle and leaned back in the seat, taking out the map and inspecting it again. "Next, I think we should-,"

"Hermione," Ron interrupted, reaching over and grabbing her wrist. He pulled it downwards, drawing the map away from her face. "Forget the map. Just go with the flow, right?"

"But-," Hermione protested.

"Let's go there next," Ron interrupted once more, pointing. They had reached the top of the Ferris Wheel again and the whole amusement park was spread out before them.

"You want to go on a rollercoaster?" Hermione asked, looking where Ron was pointing.

Ron nodded. "Yeah, why not right?"

Hermione smiled. "Yeah, why not," she agreed.

Twenty minutes later, Ron was strapped into the seat of the roller coaster next to Hermione. "Scared?" he asked, as the roller coaster climbed higher and higher.

"Not really," she answered. Her voice was calm, as always. "Are you?"

"Me? No." Ron shook his head and grinned. They had reached the top of the hill and Ron could see the whole amusement park again. "This is going to be—bloody hell!" He let out the curse instinctively as the roller coaster zoomed downwards.

Hermione was letting out short high pitched screams next to him, sounding like some kind of alarm. Every so often, a laugh would be mixed into the screams. Ron, however, couldn't even think about laughing right now. He was being whipped around by this odd Muggle machine that was foreign to him and he was pretty sure his stomach had nearly floated out of his mouth during that first drop. He gripped the handlebars and screamed his head off.

"So?" Hermione asked as they climbed off the ride. "How was it?"

"Oh, it was brilliant," Ron said, nodding a little over enthusiastically.

"Ron, I can always tell when you're lying. Don't you know that by now? And you were the one who wanted to go on the rollercoaster, if you do recall."

"I didn't know it was going to be like _that_," Ron protested. He paused. "But I wasn't scared!" He just had to take some time to get used to these strange contraptions, that was all it was.

"Oh, so you'll have no problem going on that rollercoaster?" Hermione pointed to another ride a few feet away. "This one even goes upside down."

"Upside down?" Ron squeaked. He looked over to see Hermione smirking at him. He raised his eyes back to the rollercoaster and a determined look came over his face. "Let's do it. But on one condition."

"What is it?" Hermione asked.

"When it's over, you have to buy me one of those huge pretzels I saw back there." He gestured with his thumb over his shoulder and smirked.

Hermione rolled her eyes, but smiled all the same. "It's a deal."


End file.
